Speech by President Michel on the occasion of National Day June 18, 2006-'National Day – a celebration of Seychellois unity |20 June 2006

Others are following the event over the radio and on television all over Mahe, Praslin, La Digue, Silhouette and the islands of our country. There are Seychellois far away overseas but their hearts are with us, and they are following the ceremony through the internet.

I salute you all. Good evening and thank you for participating in this great celebration of Seychellois unity. 

When I look around me, truly I cannot think of a more beautiful picture than what is before us. I see a proud and blessed nation that has gathered together in a harmonious combination of colours and emotions to celebrate our country and all that it represents: natural beauty, love, compassion, fraternity and simplicity.

People of Seychelles, let us take a moment for us to appreciate the national unity that has always characterized our small population. This is the national unity I believe in passionately and which I feel is my duty and your duty to preserve at all cost.

Our national day this year is being celebrated in the context of the 30th anniversary of our independence. We are reminded that this year is also the 250th anniversary of the event which gave the islands we inhabit their identity.

From that time a lot has happened, from the colonial period to independence and to the present. We've had the First Republic and the Second Republic. We've had difficult times. But we have been able to undertake the necessary changes to remove a lot of the inequalities, redress certain negative legacies of our history and bring about social justice. We have accomplished a lot. We have been able to raise the standard of living of all our people. We have strengthened our identity as a nation.

The 18th June, our national day, is the day the people of Seychelles decided to put aside our differences and go forward together. It is the day, 13 years ago, when we adopted our new Constitution and created the Third Republic.

In the past 13 years we have developed economically, socially and politically. During that time we continued to give our people more opportunities in education, health and housing, although we encountered certain economic difficulties. We have also invested a lot in infrastructure, including several land reclamation projects. We successfully transited from a one-party state to a multiparty political system in peace and harmony. 

Our national day is truly the occasion for us to show our unity; for us to join together to renew our commitment to preserve that unity and live together in harmony and peace. It is also a moment to reflect on our young democracy and together appreciate our achievements.

People of Seychelles, this is the unity we have to safeguard and promote. For me unity also means solidarity and sharing. If we really want to be united as a people, as a nation, therefore the progress we make and the national wealth we create through our work, have to benefit all of us.

When I was sworn in as the new President of our country, I committed myself to working for all Seychellois. I said I would consult and listen to as many people as possible, to enable me to take decisions in the interest of the nation.

I committed myself to protecting the gains of our people. I also said I would do my best to promote a dynamic national economy.         
   
This commitment represents the vision which I have invited all Seychellois to share and work together to realize. This is the vision of a strong and compassionate society with a dynamic economy. This is a society which takes care of all its people; an economy which is sound and which enables us to provide for the improving welfare of our people.

I am proud to state that we are realizing this vision. The proof of our two years of hard work is there for all Seychellois to see!

I am confident that if we continue to work together, if we remain united in our effort, we will achieve a lot more.

People of Seychelles,

This vision has turned into a great movement -- a force that is setting our country abuzz with activities and confidence. This movement is bringing about a positive change in the way we see ourselves as a nation. But the changes that are happening do not alter our overall development plan. Our plan has always centred on human development. It focuses on the development of each and every Seychellois. I am sure that all Seychellois feel they are part of this movement which allows us to look beyond the basic necessities of life and towards greater prosperity which we create ourselves and of which we are the owners.  

As a people, it is important that we have the tools of development in our own hands. We want all Seychellois to be able to use the tools; each Seychellois should be able to contribute the maximum to our development as a country.

It is clear that all Seychellois are having a share in the prosperity and are benefiting from the measures we have introduced to realize the vision which I presented two years ago.

Soon I will present my plan for the coming five years. The new plan will build on the achievements we have already made. It is a plan in which every Seychellois will, again, have a stake.

In the past one or two months we have seen more than 9,500 Seychellois becoming shareholders in a profitable insurance company. Eighty-nine staff members of SACOS, out of a total of 105 employees, also availed of the opportunity to buy shares in the business. In fact, more than 40% of SACOS' shares are now owned by the public and company staff. We could have sold all the SACOS shares only to a few individuals who have a lot of money, but we chose to give all Seychellois the opportunity to own shares.

The privatization of SACOS is only a first step. It is a model for other privatizations which we will undertake. In the next five years we want to turn the Seychellois into a "nation of shareholders", a nation of entrepreneurs and investors.

I have the pleasure to announce that as from 14th August this year we will start procedures for the sale of 30% of government shares in Nouvobanq to the Seychellois public. Nouvobanq is another of our success stories and we want the Seychellois public to participate directly in the success.

Before the end of the year we will also be in a position to sell shares in the Savings Bank to the Seychellois public.

Opportunities now exist for people to invest in big money-making businesses such as SACOS, Nouvobanq, the Savings Bank, Lemuria, the new hotel to be built at Port Launay and others.

Later this year we will also create an investment vehicle for people who have shares in SACOS or other companies. Shareholders who wish to participate in the scheme will have another opportunity to earn maximum benefits from their investments.

Our Pension Fund is also part of this big movement towards investing in our future. Today the fund is valued at over R400 million. Workers are contributing in the fund for the welfare of all Seychellois. Even public sector employees who worked before the creation of the fund in 1991 are now benefiting from the new pension. I give my commitment that when it is time to revise the pension benefits, they too will be taken into consideration.

In the last two years we have promoted a more favourable environment for business, big and small. In the next five years we will continue to develop our business potentials and propose different mechanisms to enable more Seychellois to become entrepreneurs.

We are now in a position to modernize our tax system to ensure that all businesses become more competitive and gain from the same benefits which the tourism sector, for example, is currently getting. 

We continue to remove or lower Trades Tax. According to our publicised programme, this year Trades Tax has reached 0% on the majority of goods. Trades Tax will remain on certain imported commodities such as juice, milk, toilet paper, paint, soft drinks, alcohol, agricultural and fishing products which are also made and produced locally. The Trades Tax is for the protection of our manufacturers, farmers and fishermen. 

Trades Tax will also apply on only four other categories of items, namely alcohol, cigarettes, fuel and vehicles.

Although Trades Tax is maintained on these four categories of items, we have introduced certain reductions to help various businesses.

We have already announced the reform of Business Tax so that all businesses making a profit of less than R250,000 a year will not be paying taxes as from 1st January 2007.

Earlier this year we lowered the social security contribution for all businesses. We are now in a position to announce a further reduction. During the coming weeks we will be preparing the necessary legislation so that Seychellois employers will, as from January 1st 2007, make only a 20% Social Security contribution on salaries between R2001 and R10,000, compared to 30% payable currently. The reform will bring employment costs more in line with those of the tourism sector. This will make them more competitive. The reduction will also allow employers to hire more labour or pass on the benefits to workers through, for example, salary increases.

In the past two years we have done a lot to bring down the cost of living, through measures including trades tax reductions, salary increases and ensuring that fuel prices remain stable here although prices on the international market continued to rise. We have made sure that there was no increase in electricity tariffs. We also promoted competition in as many sectors as possible in order to give consumers a wider choice. We have seen the opening of new supermarkets which are offering shoppers more choices. Competition will cause a reduction in prices and it is in line with our policy to lower the cost of living.

In the coming five years we will continue to encourage competition to benefit our citizens even more. We are already seeing the development of distribution and wholesale networks to supply more retailers with goods at competitive prices. SMB will always have its role to play in our economy and we will re-equip it in the context of the new trading environment.

Concerning foreign exchange, it is important that we have an overall perspective of the reforms we are undertaking. The first major step forward is to increase productivity and we are seeing more foreign exchange in our country. We will as from 1st October begin the procedures to remove controls in the context of our overall strategy to address access to foreign exchange. The strategy will also include a mechanism to mobilize all Seychellois towards savings using bonds and other financial instruments.

In the development movement actually taking place in Seychelles, we see our key industries continuing to grow. I believe that the new dynamism in our economy is visible to all of us.

Investments in tourism, by Seychellois and foreign partners, continue to grow. There are more employment opportunities in that sector. It is one of the sectors with more multiplying effects for our economy and we want to gain the maximum from its potentials. Starting with construction projects we are calling on the major companies and contractors to sub-contract some of their works to Seychellois electrical, plumbing, air-conditioning, painting, landscaping, consulting, pest control and transport businesses, etc. This measure will ensure that these Seychellois businesses will get the  same opportunities as the main contractors.
 
- Local companies  selected for such contracts  will benefit  from concessions  under   the   TIA   which are  applicable  for the whole  project. .
 
-  Foreign companies will only   be able to undertake sub-contracting works if there are no local businesses to do the jobs at the time.

The new measure will also enable our people to continue to acquire additional know-how, skills and technology in their respective fields and for expansion of their businesses. A training mechanism will be put in place to enable SIT students to benefit from attachment programmes with the main projects.

We are sharing the investments that are coming into our country. We are putting the tools of development into your hands. Let us show that we Seychellois are able to do a job well.

Nearly two billion dollars of foreign investments in all sectors has been earmarked for the next five years.  Seychellois as well as foreign partners are, day by day, showing greater confidence in our country and are interested in investing in Seychelles. Although we are entering an election period, we are seeing a continual increase in the number of projects submitted to the Seychelles Investment Bureau by Seychellois and foreign investors. This shows the confidence that Seychellois and foreign investors have in our economy, as well as the optimism and stability that currently exist. 

With the number of projects and investments on our programme, we expect to create at least 5,000 jobs in the next five years. The bulk of the employment opportunities will come from the tourism sector, fishing and port activities. Statistics we have show that we are well on the way to realizing our objective of creating more employment. In 2005 there was an increase of about 1,700 jobs, or 5.5% compared to 2004.  The unemployment rate for 2006 is estimated at 3%.

Our offshore sector continues to build on its success and in the coming five years we expect that activities there will double. There are presently 31 corporate service providers, the majority of them Seychellois legal practitioners and accountants. Further development of the sector could bring more earnings for our professionals, and we are doing the necessary to realize this.

The development of the fishing sector is acquiring a new dimension with the launching of our strategy for 2006-2011. The fisheries development committee I set up earlier this year has done a good job. I commend them for their work.

As part of the strategy, earlier this month we launched the plan for the development of the port and industrial fisheries. The plan was well received by foreign investors, but what is more important is the multiplying effect it will have on our local economy. I am happy that several Seychellois companies are among the first to seize the opportunities offered in the plan and they have signed letters of intent for projects they wish to develop in the Fisheries Growth Area on Ile du Port. We've also held discussions with Lehman Brothers that have indicated that they will offer to Seychellois 30% of their new investments in cold storage and fishing vessels.

In the last two years we also gave a lot of attention to the development of traditional and semi-industrial fishing. We are seeing the development of a fishing port at Bel Ombre. The picturesque little port is now the pride of the district. As part of our strategy for the next five years we will continue to build regional fishing ports -- one at Anse Royale and a central port at Providence. We are also putting up new facilities for fishermen at Anse à la Mouche and Baie Ste Anne, Praslin. Our fishing development plan for the coming five years will enable our traditional fishermen to have access to new markets and earn more revenue from their catches. Our plan will allow them to diversify the fish products for sale.

Presently, Seychelles is attracting international petroleum exploration companies. In the next five years we will continue to develop our petroleum exploration programme through increased publicity and also by assisting the companies that are negotiating with us. New data collected indicate our potential as an oil-exploiting country. SEPEC and the exploration companies are very optimistic and my government will facilitate the search for petroleum in our waters.

Seychelles now has three modern tankers transporting petroleum products all over the world, and another two will be ready next year. The five tankers have a total value of over $250 million. With the search and investments in petroleum exploration it is our objective one day to become a major exporter of the fuel.

More and more Seychellois are becoming owners of their own houses and flats. Over 16,500 or 75% of families are now owners of their homes. We implemented two Home Ownership Schemes in 2005 and 2006. These benefited many families. We will now offer a further discount to people under the first Home Ownership Scheme of 2003 and who are still repaying their loans with the banks.

They will, as from 1st July, benefit from a further reduction of their loans, and also a reduction in the monthly repayment.  Government has negotiated with the banks to buy back 20% of the total loan and this will be done through the Housing Finance Corporation (HFC). In order to bring the new proposal in line with the two schemes announced in 2005 and 2006, we will also write off the bank loans of those people who have been making repayments for more than 15 years.  In both cases when government will buy back the loan balances with the banks this will exclude arrears, interest on arrears and additional loans.

We plan to build more than 5,000 houses during the coming years. All applicants who are presently on the list will get their houses in the next five years.

Education has always been a priority, and will always remain a priority. Education is for all, with no exception. Our programme of education allows us to centre our development on each Seychellois, our human resource. We have been able to train more than 1,000 graduates in the past 10 years to work in various sectors of our economy. We will continue to develop the twinning programmes with high-level institutions overseas. We will continue to look at other institutions overseas for the training of our students. We expect that 600 Seychellois graduates will return to Seychelles in the next five years.

I call on all partners in the public and private sectors to work together to create the environment that will enable our graduates to use their full potentials. The many investment projects to be implemented, particularly in tourism and fisheries, will create new employment opportunities, including management posts. We need more qualified young people to work in the two sectors. Government will provide more scholarships in tourism and management to train young people for the sectors.

We want to upgrade the quality of all types of education we offer. Post secondary education, especially in the technical field, will benefit from the construction of new facilities. The construction of a new school for the training of nurses, a new maritime school and a new tourism school for the SHTTC will commence shortly.

We have developed an information technology programme for our schools and several schools have benefited with new facilities. In the next five years all schools will have been equipped with computers.

During the next five years we will build regional centres for the youth of our country. We have taken the decision to build a centre on Praslin and another in the south of Mahe, following the opening of the first youth centre at English River. Construction will start before the end of the year. Our plan is to build a youth centre in each of the regions of our country.  

The elderly members of our society will continue to benefit from all the facilities that our Government has provided for them. The development of our dynamic economy will also allow us to continue to increase social security benefits in line with needs.

Our development plan for culture recognises the potential that our musicians are increasingly showing for the economic development of the country.  We are seeing a number of our artists succeeding in the international arena and we will continue to support their development.  In this context we will be removing the requirement for the payment of business tax on profits by all musicians.

In sports we have recently begun to implement the sports academy programme which will support the development of our young athletes in several disciplines.  Our vision is to turn this programme into a fully fledged sports academy to form a new generation of Seychellois champions.

We are working hard to have better health facilities for all our citizens.  We are well aware that a lot needs to be done to improve this sector and we are giving our total support to our health professionals who are working for the benefit of all Seychellois. We will continue to upgrade our hospitals and health centres.

We will be encouraging further participation of the private sector in the health and facilitate the opening of private clinics in areas where there is demand.  Our long term plans also include the development of medical tourism and we will be encouraging investment in the construction of world class facilities that eventually can also benefit Seychellois residents.

We need to continue to intensify our efforts to tackle HIV/AIDS, drugs and alcohol.  We will be giving more support to NGOs and encourage the setting-up of district support groups around the country to better sensitise our communities on these problems.
 
The security of our nation is paramount. In the next few months we will see a revamped Police Force in Seychelles -- one which benefits from improved training and better support in terms of equipment and information.

Our armed forces have a new scheme of service which fully recognises their important role in the community, the protection of our natural resources and the protection of our sovereignty.  I praise all members of the armed forces for their continued dedication and hard work.

Seychellois brothers and sisters, 2006 is a special year for our nation; in many ways it is a milestone year.  It marks a historic anniversary.  It is a year where our economy is gathering momentum at a pace never before seen in our history following the series of measures we have taken and the hard work that we have been doing together.

It is also a year where the Seychellois people are called upon to exercise their democratic right to elect their President for the next five years.
 
The election of a President is an major responsibility.  I have no doubt that the Seychellois people will exercise this right to vote with responsibility and that everyone will contribute to ensuring that the election takes place in an atmosphere of peace and calm.

Our nation has a well-deserved reputation worldwide for peace and stability.  It is important that we maintain this reputation which is one of the key features of our progress.

Dear Seychellois brothers and sisters, we are assembled here as a nation, as a people, in unity, in the spirit of fraternity; with joy in our hearts, with pride in our achievements, with hope for the future.

250 years ago, our islands were given their name.  At that time, no individual could imagine what would happen to these tiny islands lost in the middle of the ocean.

Today we know what has taken place and we are fully conscious of our history as a nation.  We know that our islands have become the home of peoples from 3 continents, with all their differences, their preconceptions and inequalities.  We have known struggles as well as hope.  But we have also learnt that we have  the potentials to make things better.

We have come a long way.

Yes, things have got better.  These islands are the cradle of our nation.  A nation that has learnt to transform differences, to create its own identity; that has replaced inequality with equality, with the spirit of sharing; that have known how to create unity.

These small islands have become a country, a state, the motherland of the Seychellois people, a nation which is proud and independent. 

Yes, brothers and sisters, we have every right to celebrate these islands, celebrate these lands, celebrate our Seychelles.  Our national anthem asks us to always remain in unity.  In unity we will continue to go forward.  In unity we will continue to progress.  In unity we can build a glorious future for ourselves and our children.  In unity we can continue to ensure that the history of our country and its people is a history of love, sharing and progress; an example of prosperity.

With God's grace, we can write and sing together the new chapter of progress for Seychelles and the prosperity of its people.

I wish all Seychellois here in Seychelles and around the world a happy National Day.

Long live our homeland,
Long live the people of Seychelles.

May God continue to bless our beautiful Seychelles.

Thank you.